A woman protests against water privatisation, holding a sign that reads ‘Water is not a deal’.
Photograph: Oscar Rivera/AFP/Getty Images

When a local government ruling in the Salvadoran town of Nejapa stopped Coca-Cola from drilling wells in the community, residents thought their campaign against the drinks giant had ensured their continued access to clean water.

But that 2015 success now seems under threat after the Salvadoran national assembly recently took steps activists believe will lead to the privatisation of the country’s water supplies.

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“They are fragile ordinances, so the companies [are] looking for a way to avoid the local councils having stronger ones,” said Santiago Rodríguez, a pastor with the Salvadoran Lutheran church who works in Nejapa and the surrounding areas. “The danger is that the local ordinances are weakened even more.”

El Salvador is one of the most water-stressed countries in Latin America; according to the environment ministry, 95% of the country’s surface water is contaminated.

Water scarcity has caused conflicts, pitting residents against companies like Coca-Cola, multinational mining company OceanaGold, and large-scale sugar cane producers. About 42% of rural El Salvador has access to suitable drinking water, and many still have to travel hours to reach it.

For more than a decade, environmental activists there have been fighting for legislation to protect water sources and ensure residents’ rights to clean water. The UN has recognised the right to safe, affordable and accessible water since 2010. But Salvadorans remain without legal protections enshrining this right.

Water scarcity always affects the poorest people most

Andreu Oliva, university rector

“What we are going to have is a country that has less and less drinking water and that has a higher percentage of contaminated water,” said Andreu Oliva, the rector of Central American University José Simeón Cañas.

“Water is going to be scarce for everyone. We are all going to suffer because the water is going to be more expensive and we are also not going to have water for basic fundamentals.

“That always affects the poorest people most,” he added.

In May, the country’s right-wing Arena party retook control of the national assembly and quickly made moves to put water under the control of the private sector. In June, right-wing politicians introduced a proposal for an “integral water law” which would create a governing body to regulate water, approve permits for water use and establish taxes and tariffs.

The five-person body would include one representative elected by the president, two representatives from the National Association of Private Enterprise (Anep), and two from an association of municipal governments (Comures) in which Arena currently has greater representation.

Arena officials deny the law would privatise water. The party’s candidate in the 2019 presidential elections, Carlos Calleja, has even declared himself against its privatisation.

But activists say despite their public denials, politicians are still advocating policies that will lead to privatisation.

“They say that they don’t want to privatise water, but they are privatising the national water authority – which is even more dangerous because you give the private sector control over the decisions about water,” Oliva said.

So, three years after widespread protests in Nejapa, residents have returned to the streets, part of a growing national mobilisation led by the National Alliance against the Privatization of Water – a coalition of NGOs, religious groups and environmental activists, who have united under the rallying cry of “Water is not sold. It’s protected and defended.”

Luis González of the Salvadoran Ecological Unit said the alliance had become one of the country’s largest protest movements in recent years. “The last time that I remember such a broad space was when there were marches against the privatisation of healthcare[in 2007],” he said.

If they take away water, they take away life

Luis González, Salvadoran Ecological Unit

In response to the protests, politicians working on the proposal – who had previously refused to engage with representatives of the social movements – have now invited them to meetings.

But activists are worried the assembly is still pushing privatisation. They say other laws and reforms proposed by right-wing representatives – including one which would give the private sector more control over the National Administration of Aqueducts and Sewers (Anda) – will also lead to privatisation.

“Without a doubt there are various fronts [intent on privatising water] and we as a movement have to be alert as to how to avoid them privatising this resource, which is so important for the population,” said Gonzalez.

“What’s clear is that there is no fight more valid than the fight for life … If they take away water, they take away life.”